Family in all but Name
by ArcaneWolfCos
Summary: "It's not blood that makes you family. It's love." A small collection of works showcasing the Scions relationship with the Warrior of Light/Darkness Athena Mostly going to consist of Alphinaud and Alisaie.


_The family we choose_

There was someone outside her room. She could vaguely hear the shuffling of feet outside her bedroom door.

'_What-what time is it?'_

It was late, that much she knew. Her room was still clouded in darkness and she felt groggy from being disturbed from her sleep; though she wasn't quite sure what exactly stirred her from her deep sleep; that's when she picked up the sound of feet outside her door.

Athena buried her face back into her pillow. It was probably just a passerby walking around late at night in the Crystarium and hopefully they would continue on their way. Athena was still feeling exhausted from her battle with the Rak'tika Lightwarden, and the conversation she overheard from Y'shtola and Urianger was still playing on her mind; nevertheless, all she wanted right now was to sleep.

That is when she heard the creak of her door being opened.

'_What the…?'_ The Au'Ra shot her head up, ready to demand whoever had the audacity to enter her room without permission an explanation. The intruder quickly shut the door behind them. The slight speckles of light filtering through in her room highlighted the silhouette slightly, and Athena could make out the shape of one of the twins; though in the darkness she couldn't tell which one. Neither of them had returned when Athena and the others had returned from Rak'tika, so it could be either. Athena relaxed a little and let her head drop back to her pillow.

"Athena, you awake?" a feminine voice whispered in the room. Alisaie. Athena rubbed her eyes as she let out a yawn.

"Mmm-yea" the Xaela woman mumbled as she kept her eyes closed and stretched out her arm. Athena didn't question why the young Elezen had snuck into her room late at night, she had gotten used to it back on the Source after all the other Scions had been called to the First. Alisaie was quite distressed after Alphinaud was returned to them by Gauis unconscious, and started seeking comfort from the Warrior of Light; Athena didn't mind. She felt just as distressed as Alisaie with everything going on around them back on the Source.

It was silent for a few minutes before Athena felt the bed dip and gentle hands grip her wrist. She felt her arm being lifted slightly as Alisaie positioned herself next to Athena; her arm draped over the young Elezen.

Athena felt herself begin to drift off once again until she sensed a slight wetness where Alisaie had tucked her head into Athena and felt slight trembles coming from was instantly awake and concerned.

"Alisaie, what's wrong?" she asked, her voice laced with concern. Athena shuffled to sit up slightly so she could try and look at Alisaie. It was hard to see but Athena could make out Alisaie's face; her eyes were closed but tears were streaming down her face. Athena felt Alisaie's hand grip the front of her shirt, almost like she was afraid to let go of the Au'Ra before her. Athena brought her hand to the Elezen's face, trying her best to wipe away the tears.

"I had a nightmare," Alisaie felt her eyes burn with more tears as she remembered the horrors of her nightmare. She gripped Athena's shirt harder as her body began to tremble with overwhelming emotions; though she tried to hold it back, tried so hard to be strong. Athena knew it must've been terrifying to shake up Alisaie like this, she knew Alisaie had a few nightmares back on the Source; but usually she would come to Athena and just lay next to the Warrior of Light, just allowing Athena's presence to calm her down. This was different.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Athena asked, she gripped Alisaie's shoulder gently to show her that she was here and ready to listen.

Alisaie kept her head buried and she remembered the horrors she saw in her dream.

"I-I saw...it-it was…" Alisaie swallowed a lump in her throat as she tried to get her composure back. "It was...Alphinaud...he-he…" another quiet sob broke through, Athena's eyes narrowed in concern at the girl before her. "He...turned….just like Tesleen…" Athena's eyes widened as Alisaie recalled her nightmare. The red mage then finally looked up at the Warrior of Light.

"And I was too weak to save him! Just like I was too weak to save her!" Alisaie cried out. Athena was taken aback slightly at Alisaie's outburst, but soon felt the young girl wrap her arms around her and gripped her like her life depended on it. Alisaie buried her head into Athena's neck, sobbing and shaking against the Warrior. Athena wrapped her arm around Alisaie's shoulders and held her against her own body; burying her nose in the soft locks of Alisaie's head,

'Ssh, it's okay. It was just a dream." Athena whispered as she allowed the Elezen to offload onto her. Athena felt her heart break for the young girl before her. Despite all their bickering, she knew the twins would die for one another in a heartbeat; but to see the other turn into a sin eater? Gods, she couldn't even begin to understand the crippling pain they would be in if they ever saw their twin turn. The thought of either Alphinaud or Alisaie turning made Athena sick to the stomach, she saw the young Elezens as her own younger siblings despite not having any blood siblings of her own; and she would rather die than ever let them get hurt.

The feeling of Athena holding her began to calm Alisaie down a bit. Though she still felt the heaviness in her chest from the nightmare. All she could remember was her brother's crippled form as he twisted and writhed in agony as he transformed; she remembered trying to reach out for him; screaming his name in a futile attempt to reach him. Then as he transformed, Alisaie felt like a part of her was being ripped from her being as she fell to her knees and screamed Alphinaud's name over and over.

"It's okay, he's alive." she heard Athena whisper to her.

Alisaie took some deep breaths before speaking. "I know, I checked in on him." Another deep breath.

"Sleeping like a baby, snoring too." Athena felt Alisaie smile slightly against her. Athena smiled too, happy to see that normal Alisaie was returning slowly.

"Please don't tell him about this" Alisaie whimpered as she lifted her head from Athena's neck to look at the Warrior of Light. "Just…please don't"

Athena's eyes softened at Alisaie. She had to sigh at the stubbornness they both displayed when it came to showing their true feelings. Athena knew the twins' deepest fears about losing the other, but they both showed the same stubbornness at letting each other know. It could be frustrating at times, because Athena knew just how much they cared deeply for one another; yet they refused to show their twin when it came to it,

'_I guess it's a Leveilleur trait.'_

"You know I won't," Athena replied, pulling Alisaie closer and tucking her head under her chin. "Now try to get some sleep."

Alisaie smiled and settled against the Au'Ra, ever thankful to Athena for being there when she needed a friend-when she needed a big sister. Before Alisaie drifted off, she whispered: "Don't you even think about leaving me either."

Athena's brows furrowed. For some reason, Alisaie's words left a heaviness in her chest. Maybe it was linking to what she heard Urianger and Y'shtola were talking about in Rak'tika? Or that weird feeling she felt when she absorbed the Lightwarden's light? She didn't know. She tried to push it away as she buried her face into Alisaie's hair.

_'I'll try…Alisaie."_

* * *

Athena dragged her feet as she made her way to her personal room, the exhaustion hit her like a ton of bricks after another day's work defeating sin eaters.

'I'm so ready for sleep.' The Warrior of Light thought as she rubbed her eyes.

As she was walking along the corridor that lead to the rooms, she spotted a familiar figure standing still outside one of the rooms; as if frozen on the spot. The figure was none other than Alphinaud, and from what Athena could see of the rooms, he was standing outside Alisaie's room.

"Alphinaud?" Athena asked, walking up to the young Elezen man. He didn't seem to hear her, instead continuing to stare at the door before him. That's when Athena noticed how pale he looked. "Alphinaud? Are you alright?"

Alphinaud jumped slightly as his eyes finally registered Athena stood before him. "Ah-Athena!"

The Au'Ra women raised her eyebrow in confusion, he seemed scared for some reason. She noticed he started fidgeting; obviously trying to find an excuse as to why she just caught him standing outside his sister's room.

"I-I just…well you see." Alphinaud stuttered. 'Damn it, calm yourself down.'

Athena could tell something was troubling him, it wasn't like Alphinaud to stutter. The young Elezen was always confident and charismatic in his approach; so to see him fidget and struggle to find words made Athena suspicious that someone was definitely wrong, and Athena had a sneaky suspicion it had something to do with his twin sister.

"Come on, let's go have a nice cup of hot chocolate and you can tell me all about it." Athena said as she walked past Alphinaud, tapping him on the shoulder to signal for him to follow her. Alphinaud watched as the Warrior walked away, looking back at the door he was standing outside, he sighed and swiftly followed Athena.

It wasn't long before Athena brought out two steaming mugs of hot chocolate and placed one before the Elezen boy. It brought back memories back their time in Ishgard, where both of them would bond over hot chocolate often brought to them by Haurchefant. They made it a little tradition between them, even when Haurchefant was taken from them.

"So, what's bothering you?" Athena asked as she took a seat beside Alphinaud. "It's not like you to be at a loss for words."

Alphinaud stared as his mug, trying to find words to speak about what was troubling him, but he was struggling to piece a sentence together.

"It's to do with Alisaie, isn't it?" Athena asked. She noticed Alphinaud stiffen at the mention of his sister; his hands gripping the mug in front of him.

"It's nothing, honestly. Just...a silly dream." Alphinaud whimpered the last part. Athena knew him too well, and she instantly picked up the way his voice broke ever so slightly at the last part.

"It can't be silly if it's gotten you like this," Athena replied. Alphinaud turned his head away slightly, afraid that his face would give it away if she continued to question him. Goddamnit, Athena knew him too well for him to hide anything from her. The Au'Ra turned so her whole body was facing him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You can talk to me Alphinaud."

That's when she felt his body tremble, her fingers instantly sensing the vibration of his body as he began to let his walls down.

"I had-," Alphinaud took a deep breath before he continued. "I had a nightmare about Alisaie. She-she turned into sin eater."

Athena froze slightly. It hadn't been long ago that Alisaie had sought her out in the dead of night after witnessing the same nightmare about Alphinaud. Gods, it always amazed Athena just how deeply connected these two were, it must be a twin thing.

Alphinaud turned his back to his mug, still refusing to look at Athena.

"She stepped in front of me...to-to protect me. That's when she got stabbed by a sin eater," Alphinaud felt a lump in his throat form and his body tremble some more. "Then she turned...right in front of me."

Athena looked down as Alphinaud recalled his sounded just like Alisaie; forever rash and bold to the point of recklessness. The sad thing was, it could come true; though Athena prayed to the Twelve it never would. Alisaie would put herself in danger for her brother, and vice versa.

Alphinaud then began to do something he rarely did in front of people; he began to cry. Rarely did people see him cry bar a few he trusted.

"I couldn't save her ...I failed her Athena! I failed her as her brother." Alphinaud brought his arm up to try and hide his tears, feeling a little ashamed for letting his emotions get the better of him, but when it came to the people he loved, he just couldn't help it.

Athena felt her heart break all over again. Feeling a sense of deja vu as the other Leveilleur twin broke down before her. She remembered Alisaie explaining what it felt like to see her brother turn; and whilst Athena couldn't fully understand herself, she knew Alphinaud was feeling the exact same thing; and Athena felt for him.

Standing up from her position on the chair, Athena gripped Alphinaud gently by the shoulders and guided him to stand; which he did without hesitation, and hugged him tight to her. Alphinaud, not usually one to show any type of affection whilst in public, wrapped his arms around her too, burying his face into Athena's chest as he cried some more. Athena just held him.

"It's okay. Alisaie is alive and well." Athena whispered into his soft hair. She honestly wished she could take all his pain away, her companion that went through so much with her; the one she saw as a younger brother, she wished she could just take it all away.

Alphinaud continued to cry into Athena for a few minutes. Yes, he knew his sister was alive. It was the fear of the dream coming true that shook him to the core. He wouldn't put it past his sister to put herself in danger if it meant protecting him; which is why he told himself that he had to make sure she never did that. He couldn't lose her.

"Please don't speak a word of this to Alisaie Athena." he whispered. Athena wanted to sigh, typical that he would say the exact same thing as his sister. She didn't know what she was going to do with those two. Sometimes she wanted to tell him that Alisaie understood because she had the exact same nightmare and vice versa, but she made a promise to Alisaie not to tell her brother, and she was going to do the same for him.

"Alright." Athena said, gently pushing Alphinaud so she could see his face. It was slightly red and tear stained, but Alphinaud quickly wiped away any remaining tears. He felt a little better, and was thankful to Athena for being there when he needed it.

"Come, let's finish out drinks." Athena said. Alphinaud gave a small smile before both of them sat down to enjoy their beverages.


End file.
